This invention relates to a clamp assembly and in particular a clamp assembly for securing an evaporator in a household refrigerator. More specifically, the clamp assembly is to prevent both horizontal and vertical movement of helically formed heat exchange tubing which comprises the evaporator once it is installed in a household refrigerator.
Clamp assemblies similar to the clamp assembly described and shown in the present application have been used to hold evaporators in their proper horizontal position and particularly helically formed coil type evaporators having two coil sections mounted side-by-side horizontally and spaced slightly apart from each other. In such evaporator mounting arrangements it is common to mount the side-by-side coils on a mounting plate which is then attached to an inner panel of a refrigerator compartment by screw means located between the spaced apart coil sections. In such evaporator arrangements it is also common to have an electric resistance defrost heater assembly located in close proximity to the bottom coil section so that during the defrost cycle the heater will be energized and melt the frost which has accumulated on the evaporator. One of the difficulties in using the prior clamp assembly is that while they were suitable to prevent horizontal movement of the helically coiled evaporator, they did not prevent vertical movement which would allow the coil sections to sag or move downwardly from their intended mounting position and cover up the screw holes for mounting the mounting plate to the inside of the refrigerator, thus making installation of the evaporator component in the refrigerator very difficult. The bottom helically wound coil section could also sag and in some cases come into contact with the defrost heater assembly and detrimentally affect the defrost heater assembly.
It is common to have the evaporator housed in a compartment separated from the freezer compartment by a large panel forming the back wall of the freezer compartment. This panel is in close proximity to the evaporator and sagging of the coil sections can cause the evaporator to contact the back wall panel of the freezer compartment. Evaporators have an inherent noise vibration due to high pressure gases passing through them and if an evaporator is in contact with the panel forming the back wall of the freezer compartment, it tends to act as an acoustic radiator and undesirably amplifies the noise.
By this invention there is an improved clamp assembly that prevents both horizontal and vertical movement of the helically wound coil evaporator after it has been attached to a mounting plate and eliminates the above-mentioned deficiencies of prior art mounting assemblies.